Associate Director, SRDC

Position Function:

Responsible for day-to-day leadership and supervision in SRDC including administrative, financial, and technical aspects. Develops relationships between the region's Land-Grant institutions and key rural development partners in the region.

Salary Grade:  16

Please see Staff Compensation Structure or Skilled Crafts and Service Maintenance Compensation Schedule for salary ranges.  For salary grade UC, these positions are "Unclassified" and salary ranges are determined by the hiring department.

Department Profile:

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) was created in 1974 under the authority of the Rural Development Act of 1972 and is one of four Regional Rural Development Centers in the nation. The Center operates on the philosophy that the rural development activities of our region’s Land-Grant Universities can be more effectively leveraged through multi-state coordination, facilitation, and cooperation. It is this commitment to collaboration and partnership-building that guides the work of the SRDC within the region. In particular, the mission of the Southern Rural Development Center is to strengthen the capacity of the region’s 30 Land-Grant Universities to address critical contemporary rural development issues impacting the well-being of people and communities in the South.

Anticipated Appointment Date:

July 2024. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Identifies and coordinates multi-state teams on emerging topics. Entails identifying topics from stakeholders both within and outside the land grant university system; scanning the region for research and extension collaborators and other rural development partners; convene and facilitate exploration of the topic and related next steps.
2. Works directly with community development stakeholders in the south to address training needs. Includes identifying training needs; finding presenters for and/or developing and presenting content; coordinating training events (face-to-face and web-based).
3. Garners extramural funding to support southern region initiatives. Identify potential funders, prepare/submit proposals, manage funded grants including complex subcontract arrangements, monitor and manage progress on action steps and deliverables; provide timely reporting.
4. Strengthens rural development research efforts in the region. Identify researchers within the region (and sometimes nationally) to collaborate on important rural development research; provide leadership to developmental analysis/research related to SRDC initiatives.
5. Provides content leadership on SRDC communication. Work with communication and webmaster on content to post to SRDC various channels including social media channels. Around the South monthly newsletters, annual report, professional meetings, and regional meetings.
6. Facilitates collaboration among the region’s 30 land grant university Extension Service State Program Leaders to promote multi-state engagement and efforts.
7. Manage SRDC team to ensure communication channels are kept current (listservs, membership database, project website); facilitate annual joint meeting; assist directly with action plans among the community development state program leaders within the region.
8. Oversees the supervision of personnel, which includes work allocation, training, and promotion, enforcement of internal procedures and controls, and problem resolution. Evaluates performance and makes recommendations for personnel actions.
9. Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Master's degree in Community Development or a closely related field.

Experience: Five (5) years of experience working in a professional setting directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

Licensure: Valid driver's license.

Preferred Qualifications:

Ph.D. in Community Development or closely related field.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to develop and deliver presentations.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Skill in organizing resources and establishing priorities.
• Ability to plan, initiate, direct, a